THE RIPENING (Dark Side of the Moon Book 1) (10 page)

              “They've brought our kind a lot of strife through the ages. They've hunted us almost to extinction and the few relationships that have happened between humans and us have only ended in suffering.” Viola sighed. “The Elders... and Malcolm, will do anything to protect us. Taking a life seems small in comparison to them.”

              “But I don't want to do any harm to you or any of the Douglases!”

              “What if I told you I was Liam's wife? His mate?” Viola glanced over at her, expression darkly amused. “That I watched him drag you over the grounds last night and would probably have stood by as he tore you limb from limb?”

              Well, that did happen to change things. As far as Yuna was concerned, Liam was one of the biggest obstacles she had to overcome in the bid for her own life. Despite what Viola had revealed, however, revelations from the previous night had been in pointed past tense. Seated next to Yuna, explaining where no one had before, Viola didn't seem as bloodthirsty as she claimed.  Or at least, she seemed the least bloodthirsty of the werewolves Yuna was acquainted with. “Well... you said that you didn't really want me dead, right?”

              “I'm afraid what I want isn't terribly important at this point,” the redhead returned flatly. “You have Malcolm, Liam, Nita, Marilyn and the entire clan against you. We have a saying: Blood to blood. Blood first and blood always. For our clan.”

              “But you're on my side.”

              “I'm against killing you.” Viola's nostrils flared when she spoke. “We're far past the days when taking the lives of humans is common occurrence. Murder is murder. But,” She cast Yuna a glance that was equal parts neutrality and authority. “Luther has to have a proper mate to ensure our survival. If you do somehow make it through this... you need to disappear. You must never see Luther again.”

              The reminder was like a rock in her gut.

              Sighing, Yuna closed her eyes as she leaned back against the marble wall of her makeshift cell. Overall, her situation was looking pretty grim.

              Her heart had led her quite literally into a den of wolves.

              God, her world had changed so much in the past twenty-four hours. She'd gone from hoping desperately that Luther would be able to explain why he'd suddenly cast aside their lifelong friendship and being elated to have found him to realizing that being with him was more complicated than she'd ever even begun to given it credit for.

              What a mess.

              “So...” she tried, after a few moments of awkward silence. “You... and Liam. That's got to be interesting.”

              Viola visibly tensed a moment before she replied. “He is not the terrible man you might think he is.”

              “Well, what can I say? I don't know much about him,” Yuna mused dryly. “Just that he wants to kill me.”

              “Liam only wants our preservation.” Viola returned sharply, her tone suddenly intense. “Anything that might complicate it he sees as a threat. I could tell you breathtaking things he's done to protect us. I could tell you about all the things that he's given up... the things that we've given up.” For a moment, Viola's voice was bitter enough to cast a shadow over the entire room. Her sudden change in mood took Yuna slightly aback, and she quieted once again.

              It appeared as if Luther wasn't the only one who'd ever considered changing his stripes. Uneasily, the young woman stared down at her dirty, bare feet. Apparently being embodiments of the supernatural was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Douglas clan drama.  Running her hands through her mussed hair in an attempt to somehow tame it, she decided to change the subject.

              “Why don't you and Liam have children? Wouldn't that help propagate the clan?”

              For a moment, Viola didn't speak.

              When she did, it was in a tone that was a strange mixture of sorrow and resignation. “Liam is... infertile. At least as far as our kind are considered.”

              “What, he can't have kids?”

              “He can't have pups,” Viola returned dully. “Our children would be human. It's forbidden.”

              What?

              Yuna might not be a part of the grand werewolf law-writing council, but that sounded like a bunch of crap. “You can't have kids because they won't be werewolves?”

              Viola visibly winced at the word. “That's a simple way of putting it.”

              “But... that's not right. They can't deny you that. Why would you love a human child any less?”

              “I wouldn't,” Viola returned, her tone harsh. “But it doesn't matter. Children of similar parentage have been produced in the past and they... they didn't survive.”

              “They died in childbirth?”

              “They were killed by their own families. During the Ripening.” Yuna's eyes widened in horror. “Who could protect them?” The redhead went on hollowly. “When we are in our animal forms our love for our children can be deadly.”

              “That's horrible.”

              “You can see why children would be impossible for Liam and I.”

              “But... you didn't kill me last night. You obviously have some control. Luther... Luther rescued me in his animal form. He'd never kill a child... not even when he's transformed!”

              “The risk is too great,” Viola rebutted, turning to glare at Yuna dangerously. “The law is extremely clear on the subject. It's not allowed.”

              Yuna scowled. She'd finally become privy to a secret society, to the supernatural and some vestige of magic in the world, and she found out that they were Nazis. It figured.

              “Well, excuse me,” she scowled up at Viola. “But your laws sound kind of crappy to me.”

              Almost immediately, Viola was on her feet. “If I were you, I'd be more careful about what you say.” Though the older woman's voice sounded firm, Yuna couldn't see her expression as she stalked across the room. “I'll bring you food later.”

              With those final words, she left. The door, of course, locked behind her, leaving Yuna alone all over again. This time, however, she had a lot more to contemplate. Luther was somehow magically bound to her in a pact that could only be ended with her death. Until the pact was broken, he couldn't be with anyone else and fulfill familial duties that, while ancient and outdated, would ensure that his race didn't go extinct. The family had a lot of extra bullshit floating around so far as laws, bloodlines, and emotional trauma, and a lot of it seemed pretty toxic in her opinion.

              So here she was, in the middle of a situation far bigger than her, and somehow still head over heels in love with a man she couldn't have.

              This day just kept getting better and better.

**

              “This is insane.”

              Standing before his parents, Luther gazed from his mother to his father, and finally back over his shoulder at his brother behind him. “Since when have we been murderers?”             

              “Since you couldn't keep it in your Godddamned pants!”

              “Liam!” At his younger brother's outburst, Luther's mother reprimanded him harshly. Marilyn Douglas had never been one for profanity, and that hadn't changed, despite what her husband had revealed to her moments ago.

              “Tell me.” Ignoring his brother's manners completely, Luther continued to stare down two of the people most dear to him- people who held a large part of Yuna's fate in their hands. “When is the last time we killed a human?”

              “We've avoided such matters for decades only because of our secrecy.” Malcolm replied firmly, his blue eyes glinting. “You've compromised that. You did it on the very day you decided to befriend that girl.”

              “We warned you, Luther,” his mother added grimly.  “Nothing good can come from mixing with their kind.”

              Luther had always known that his parents were blinded by tradition and bound by the laws of his race and he'd understood the role he would have to play in the world of their kind from a young age. But he'd never before thought he might witness something as pointless as the murder of an innocent.               Never his Yuna.

              “You did this,” Liam spat from behind him. “Blinding her with the idea that anything could ever be normal between you.”

              “I simply refused to hide behind this isolated sham of an existence that you call a life.” Luther continued to pretend that his brother wasn't present. It was easier than taking his head off. “I had no intention of foregoing my duties to the clan.”

              “Whatever your intentions were,” Marilyn returned sharply. “You seem to have neglected them. Or do you need to be reminded that you are currently mated to a human, which ends our line.”

              “Mother-”

              “Luther, you have more control than any of us in your natural form. How could you have let this happen?”

              “Maybe there's some way to undo the bond. I could reverse the pact. Yuna could leave here and I could mate with another.”

              “She can't leave here knowing what we are. She'll go to the media the first chance she gets.” Malcom's father's voice was, to say the least, mildly outraged.

              “She knows the location of our den. She could lead anyone here. She could lead hunters here.”

              “Mother, when's the last time any of our kind has even seen a hunter? We've been more than proficient at getting ourselves killed for the past century.”

              “So you thought you'd just see us out the door, right? What about honor, Luther? What of blood?”

              Whirling, Luther emitted an inhuman roar that cowed his brother only momentarily before Liam's eyes flashed bright yellow and his canines began to lengthen.  “Yuna is mine,” Luther snarled, his gaze dark. “Anyone who wishes to harm her will go through me.”

              “You'll destroy the entire clan to protect a human?”

              “If I must!”

              The entire room was seeped in deafening silence.

              Oddly, since mating with Yuna in the clearing, Luther had been consumed not with ideas of how to undo what he'd done, but of how the woman who had been the light in his world was now bonded to him forever. Sure, he'd given into his baser instincts to her taste, her smell, and her essence, but there had been a very conscious part of him that had poured his soul into her last night. He had felt no better sensation in his life than the aftermath of their bonding, knowing that she was his, that no man but him would ever touch her.

              Spilling his seed within her, being beside her, seeing her bare form bathed in the moonlight-it called to everything that comprised him- both his human and canine sides.

              But what he'd done had dire consequences. As much fulfillment as she brought him, Yuna could not give him pups. If he remained bonded to her, it would mean the end.

              “Luther, she must die. The council will decide no different. You are only delaying the inevitable.” His mother's voice, while steady, was not devoid of empathy.

              The thought- the most minute notion- of Yuna's enrapturing green eyes lifeless before him stole his breath. Hanging his head, the auburn-haired man fought to keep his emotions in check. “And who will do it, Mother?” He demanded lowly. “You? Or will it be you, Father? Is there anyone other than the man who has nothing to lose who would be willing? Hunting a deer, eviscerating a rabbit... these things all pale in comparison to the taking of a human life.”

              “I'll do it,” Liam snarled at his back. “Someone has to be brave enough to save us.”

              “What if...” Luther exhaled hotly, deciding to try another tactic. “What if Yuna could somehow produce viable pups.” Almost immediately, Marilyn's face twisted. “Wasn't there once a time where pairings with humans could produce our kind?”

              “Absolutely not. Out of the question.” Malcolm's voice boomed through the room authoritatively.

              “But isn't any option better than-”

              “He said no, Luther.”

              All heads turned to see Viola silhouetted in the open door. She had an unreadable expression upon her face, fingers twisted together- and she smelt of Yuna.

              Luther was on her in moments. “Let me see her.” His grip on the long-haired woman was tight enough to bruise, but still she only stared up at him, expression neutral. “You can't keep me from her.”

              “Hands off my mate, brother.” Liam's warning came dangerously soft over his shoulder.

              “I'm fine,” Viola replied succinctly, before addressing her brother-in-law. “I think it's best if you don't see her now, Luther. I've informed her of the particular situation she's in and she needs time to absorb it.” After a tense moment, Luther loosened his grip and turned away from her.

              Back to his family.

              They were a part of him, just as they shackled him. He could no more turn from them than he could cease being what he was.

              And Yuna... would she even want him anymore when she realized what he'd done? The position he'd put her in?

              “Liam,” Viola brushed past him to cross the room and take his brother by the arm. “Come with me, please. We need to talk.”

              “Not now, Viola.” Luther dimly heard his brother stave off her attempts at conversation as he left the room to walk blindly through the halls.

              He passed several other members of the clan as he wandered, lost in thought, ignoring the scathing looks they gave him. He wasn't even Alpha yet, and they were already judging his decisions. There was a time when their belief in his capabilities would have meant everything to him, but that had been before the previous night.

              What were centuries of tradition and secrecy worth, he realized, when they isolated you from the world developing around you and the plethora of people in it? What were laws when they made you monsters?